ARTIST STATEMENT
After 20 years of writing instrumental music and working with traditional songs, I’m heading in an entirely new direction. My biggest creative departure yet. I’m inviting you to join the process.
In July 2017, my brother—Michael Stone, a well-known teacher of yoga and Buddhism—died suddenly and tragically. Grieving and grappling with his death led me to begin writing lyrics for songs unlike any of my previous compositions. Words have become windows through which I look at memory, loss, and paradox. These words have also given me a reason to sing, along with playing electric banjo, guitar, and OP-1 (a synthesizer/sampler/drum machine).
The new songs will be part of an ambitious, experimental art-pop album, inspired by the two records that have been my twin stars—”22, A Million” by Bon Iver and “Blonde” by Frank Ocean. The project envisions songs that blend into one another like a mix tape where high and lo-fi sounds entwine, along with poetic lyrics, and experimental uses of technology. My trusty collaborators for this new album are all well-known for their cross-genre work: Alec Spiegelman (Cuddle Magic), Jason Burger (Big Thief), Felicity Williams (Bahamas) and Andrew Ryan (Kaïa Kater). The album will be released in early 2020.
I’m planning to approach this album differently—slowing down the process to discover a new musical path for myself. To start, the band will spend a week at an artist retreat center taking my songs apart and put them back together again—exploring every sonic and textural possibility. We start recording in January and will do several sessions over the course of the year, bringing different musicians and co-producers in and out during the process.
All told, the album will cost about $30k to make. Funds will go directly towards artists fees, studios, engineering, mastering, travel, design and manufacturing. I would be honored if you’d consider financially supporting the project at this early stage. Musicians have always needed to be creative and forward-thinking in how to raise money. Record labels have little to no money to invest these days and while I’ve had two successful Kickstarter campaigns (and may use the platform again in the future), I’m trying something new that will allow me to focus my energy on making music right now rather than making promotional videos and running a crowdfunding campaign on social media.
If you’re interested in supporting this project, Fractured Atlas’ fiscal sponsorship program allows you to make a tax-deductible contribution online. You get a tax write-off just as you would donating to a charity or non-profit while directly supporting this project. Click the “Donate Now” button on the top right of this page or scroll down to the bottom to click the $ sign next to “Make a secure online donation.” Follow the steps to pay by credit card. Fractured Atlas will collect and administer the funds, oversee the project and send out paperwork for taxes. You can also email jayme@jaymestone.com if you prefer to send your contribution in by check.
If you contribute $200 or more, you will be invited into our inner circle and get updates, behind-the-scenes videos, early demos, sneak previews and an advance copy of the album. Thank you for your consideration.
With Gratitude,
Jayme
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BIOGRAPHY
Jayme Stone is a composer, banjoist, instigator, producer, and educator. On any given day, you might find him in his studio reworking a little-known hymn learned from a field recording, producing a session with musicians from Bamako or New York, creating experimental soundscapes with electric banjo and pedals, or tucking his kids in on time so he can get back to writing the next verse of a new song.
As a young banjoist, Stone was obsessed with learning from both traditional players and modern masters. He quickly assimilated his endless fascinations—from learning an Ali Farka Touré song to playing free-improvised music. In his late teens, Stone spent hours at the headphone station of his local record shop listening deeply to different kinds of music. He was interested in the “heart and guts” of what he heard—the warmth and grit of folk songs, the camaraderie and risk in jazz, the dynamics of chamber music, the cyclical rhythms of West Africa—but no one genre felt quite like his own. He might’ve forever remained a listener were he not compelled to make the music he heard in his head.
Stone, a “consummate team player” (Downbeat), has developed a process of trawling for understudied sounds in the more arcane corners of the world to see how they’ll land in his musical universe. His many collaborators have included Margaret Glaspy, Moira Smiley, Tim O’Brien, Bruce Molsky, Julian Lage, Dom Flemons, Bassekou Kouyate, and more. Guided by his own aesthetic compass and a desire to let his collaborators “make the sounds that only they know how to make”, he has made a surprise album every two or three years—seven total. Albums like Africa to Appalachia, a polyrhythmic tale of two continents; the Lomax Project, which re-imagines songs collected by American folklorist Alan Lomax; and most recently, Folklife, a companion album to the latter that treats old field recordings not as time capsules, but as heirloom seeds planted in modern soil. It’s for this reason that Stone has also been called “a musical evangelist” who “loves using fresh approaches that get people hooked on wider musical traditions” (Edmonton Journal).
Other career highlights for Stone include winning two Juno Awards, three Canadian Folk Music Awards; being featured on NPR, BBC, and the CBC; and performing thousands of concerts at places like the Lincoln and Kennedy Centers, Library of Congress, Bumbershoot, Rockygrass, Celtic Connections, Vancouver Folk Festival, Lotus Festival, Chicago World Music Festival, Montréal Jazz Festival, and more.
Stone is a sought-after producer who can carefully craft the cast, atmosphere, and ethos needed to make captivating records. He’s now producing, composing, and arranging music for a new sound collection at Facebook that has given him a chance to exercise his thirsty ears and imagination. For that project he’s worked with such varied artists as Trio Da Kali, Manik Khan, Ranky Tanky, Trio Brasiliero, Jo Lawry, Ben Sollee, and many others.
As an educator, Stone has taught workshops and masterclasses at universities and music camps and has been on faculty at the Silk Road Global Musician Workshop. Fellow musicians frequently seek Stone’s advice, keen to discover how he’s managed to craft a career that both hews closely to his creative vision and finds success in the world. This has resulted in the creation of two offerings: the popular workshop How to Book Yourself without an Agent and a yet-to-be-launched online course that teaches “businesscraft for musicmakers” called Compose Your Career.
Learn More: http://jaymestone.com